Cardiac catheterization procedures generally utilize a catheter passed through a major artery, such as a femoral artery, to access a patient's heart. Yet access to the intravascular and cardiac systems may also be achieved through a radial artery and is generally believed to be more convenient and may also reduce both the length of the procedure and the risk of complications during the procedure. However, cardiac catheterization procedures often require the use of numerous surgical instruments including guidewires, intravascular balloons, stents, etc.
Moreover, imaging systems such as fluoroscopes or other imaging machines are typically utilized during catheterization procedures. Due to the size and weight of these machines, imaging various tissue regions within the patient's body often necessitates re-positioning of the body relative to the imaging system. This requires physically moving the patient's body. However, because of the number of instruments used during a radial access procedure, re-positioning the patient's body is difficult and cumbersome.
Previous devices have been developed to facilitate radial access. Such devices have included the use of boards or surfaces which extend from the platform upon which the patient is positioned. Such boards are typically clamped or otherwise secured to the platform for supporting the patient's limb, such as their arm, to extend from the body to provide radial access. However, such boards are cumbersome to use in a surgical setting and fail to provide a stable platform upon which instruments can be placed.
Other devices have included the use of arm boards or platforms supported by pivoting or jointed arms which can be clamped upon the catheter laboratory table or a separate supporting structure. While such pivoted or jointed arms are able to support a patient's arm for a radial procedure, these devices still fail to provide any stable platform for instruments and further fail to address the need for moving or re-positioning the patient's body relative to an imaging system.
Accordingly, there exists a need for methods and devices which are able to support any number of instruments for radial access as well as facilitate re-positioning of the patient's body during a radial access procedure.